


hiding in plain sight

by ks__log



Category: Super Junior
Genre: M/M, Modern magic AU, do you even 83line if you dont write a million alternate narratives for the wlt episode, not explicitly romantic but written with 83line in mind, winged! leeteuk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:59:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21931843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ks__log/pseuds/ks__log
Summary: Some things are better left unknown, some things aren't.To heal you must first know what hurts.
Relationships: Kim Heechul & Park Jungsoo | Leeteuk, Kim Heechul/Park Jungsoo | Leeteuk
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	hiding in plain sight

The _We Lived Together_ episode was nothing but a mess. Not like it was physically taxing, but Heechul still found himself worried when Jungsoo had to stretch himself thin beyond his normal emotional boundaries.

He really questioned why he had chosen to go to counseling of all places for their little pretend date, but Jungsoo had agreed either way. They might as well make the best of the situation. And well, the best out of the situation was kind of crappy. Expectedly so.

However, Heechul didn’t expect to find out that Jungsoo’s left wing was bandaged almost entirely, bound uncomfortably closed shut. It must’ve been so uncomfortable, and to imagine how long it has been going like this… And his right wing wasn’t much better off either, the neat lines of feathers they once were now ragged and in disarray. If one were to look closely, there were patches of skin peeking through the matted down. Heechul decided it was best not to comment on those, Jungsoo didn’t need that kind of talk after the previous intense one.

Later when they came back to the temporary apartment, they had gotten to the assigned tasks quickly. Jungsoo hid his wings again too, almost as if out of second nature, and it stayed that way for the rest of the time the cameras were rolling. Jungsoo had requested a small break after coming out of the shower, though, and asked for a little privacy. 

He then took out rolls of bandages from his pack, and hesitantly contemplated something before gently placing it in Heechul’s hands.

“Um,...” He chuckled nervously, “I need to change out my wraps, but I can’t really do them myself…”

“Then how did you?...”

“I had the stylists do them for me in the morning.”

Heechul gaped dumbly at the thing in his hands, mouth only managing a small ‘Oh’ in response. It hurt him a little, that the stylists would know about…this, before he did. But this was Jungsoo’s call to make, not his, and he respected that.

They settled on the small couch, barely fitting them, and Jungsoo materialized his wings again. Getting a chance to inspect them closer, Heechul wished he could run his hands along the rows of feathers and comb them back into place again, but he knew the problems run deeper than that.

Jungsoo reached back over his shoulder to gesture to the end of the bandage, and Heechul pulled at the tuck to start unravelling it. The sight he was greeted with after it all came off… 

Maybe it was better off not knowing.

Jungsoo winced a bit when his left wing came in contact with the air. It was easy to see why he would. The skin pulled taut over the fragile structure of bones was an uncomfortable red covered in goosebumps. Clumps of something that could barely pass for feathers scattered across the expanse. The lucky primary and secondary coverts stayed intact by some miracle, but the rest had no such luck. Heechul ghosted his fingers over the exposed skin, feeling that it was dry to the touch.

“Oh, could you put some of this stuff on it before you wrap it back up?” Jungsoo handed him something that looked to be pain relieving cream, all too casual about the situation. It was clear he got used to this.

“Hey,” Heechul started to find the words in him again, “How long have you been hiding this, you idiot?”

“This isn't the worst that it got–”

“Which is all the more reason you shouldn’t hide it,” Heechul took a small satisfaction in hearing Jungsoo hiss quietly as he applied the cream over a particularly sensitive spot as compensation, “well… at least not hide it from _me_.”

“I’d expected you to react a bit more, yknow,” The wings shuffled along to Jungsoo’s shrug, “angry, frustrated… I don’t know. Apparently not.”

“You say that like I don't understand how it feels.”

And Heechul was right, Jungsoo realized. Both of them had a limb functioning in less than ideal conditions yet had to suck it up and smile through it. Neither of them asked for it, yet here they were suffering through pain anyway. Maybe they were more similar than he assumed before. 

Jungsoo mulled over his own thoughts while Heechul rolled the bandages over his wings, gentle and careful. He interjected once to stop Heechul from binding it too tightly, but they remained mostly silent.

Before he knew it, Heechul was done and the filming had resumed. They pretended like nothing happened prior and prepared for bed as it was getting late anyway. Jungsoo had laughed about the couch being too small, that his “blanket” could barely cover him but stuck to his situation. Heechul had gone off on some rant about ‘realness’ and microphones on reality shows and whatever, but it was ironic how both of them were still hiding behind these personas. That Jungsoo still hid, the gruesome truth obscured behind some flimsy curtain. They went back to uncomfortable silence after the lights went out.

In the dark, Jungsoo wondered how he managed to let it get this far out of hand. Many things he had withdrawn himself from, not allowing himself to ask for. But he wanted to ask for so much when there’s little to give.

It was a silent blessing and a curse when Shindong and Donghae had crashed into their room, essentially forced Jungsoo to share a bed with Heechul. Jungsoo would have to deal with the possible consequences on his own feelings or his pride later, but for now it was not something he cared about.

For now, he only cared about that comforting arm lightly wrapped around him, hesitant but affectionate. He only cared about the fact that Heechul had understood Jungsoo’s ugliness with few words needed and even accepted him for it. Heechul _understood._

Jungsoo fell asleep with a new fresh and snug wrap of bandages, and a warmth in his heart to block out the pain.

**Author's Note:**

> djfjjfjdndn i'm back at it again with the wing angst :pensive:  
> jungsoo's wing condition based off this, kinda graphic(?): https://www.beautyofbirds.com/marcie.html
> 
> feel free to drop ur thoughts here or thru these!  
> twt: nodrama_byteuk  
> cc: nodramabyteuk


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